From John Jay to Alexander McDougall, 22 December 1775
To Alexander McDougall
Philadelphia, 22d Dec. 1775
Dear Sir
Few Things have for some time past given me more Pleasure than the address with which you managed the Govrs. Letter on the Subject of Lord Norths motion. It occasions however both Surprize and Concern that the Sin of Fear (as Lewis Morris calls it) should operate so powerfully on some of your Patriots, as it seems to do.
The Provision for the Delegates I imagined Would be similar to that of Connecticut. however as the Convention has thought proper to move on other Principles, I am determined that pecuniary Considerations shall never induce me to quit the Field so long as my Employers Constituents will keep me whole, The Allowance they have agreed upon will, if I retrench a little, about do that.
It must be obvious that keeping much Company, is necessary to obtain a personal Influence with the Members, and that the Colony is interested in their Delegates possessing such Influence. Should we ever converse upon this Subject I will mention some important Instances of its Use.
I am glad you think of reducing our Number. Five is certainly sufficient: 3 of them to be a Quorum.1
The Congress I am persuaded will not make the Loan you ask.2
Your Conduct relative to Sear’s Expedition so far as it respects Connecticut is certainly proper—But I suspect this will be the first Instance of censuring the Followers without reprehending the Leaders—It is time that your Government should acquire a firmer Tone.3
Tomorrow I shall go to Elizabeth Town—for a Week—and shall devote the first Leizure Hour I have to telling you twenty things about which Want of Time compels me now to be silent.
Mr. Duane complains to me that you have taken no Notice of a Letter he wrote you some time ago. He says it was friendly and expected you would treat it as such—It respected some Observations made on your Detention from the Army, & his Remarks on that Subject which were just.4
Coll. Morris was very useful at the Indian Treaty and had he not, by being accidentally at Pittsburgh, given the Congress an opportunity of supplying Dr. Franklins absence, by appointing him Coms. pro Tempore, there is Reason to believe our affairs in that Quarter might have suffered.5
As to Arms, I think you should take Care how you strip yourselves to cover your Neighbours Nakedness—Neighbours too who have no Reason to expect—It is Time that you should look to your own Necessities—New York never stood better with Congress than now—your Alacrity in raising & arming your Troops last Summer &c. is compared with the Tediousness & slow moving of others.
Some Powder has arrived here—but the Fleet will consume it—6 more has arrived to the Eastward & the cavalry will take that—For the future remember that Charity should begin at Home. God bless you. Yours &c.
John Jay
ALS, NHi: McDougall (EJ: 747). Addressed: “To/Collonel Alexander McDougall/at/New York”. Franked: “free J. Jay”. Endorsed.
1. Under the terms of their appointment by the New York Convention, five of the twelve members of the province’s delegation to the Second Continental Congress were required to be present to cast New York’s vote. , 2: 15–16.
2. This line does not appear in the text of the letter, but rather in the left-hand side margin of the first page, with no mark to indicate where it should be placed. On 9 Dec. 1775 the provincial congress instructed New York’s delegates in Philadelphia to seek a loan of £45,000. The New York Congress explained that it feared that a provincial emission of paper money for this amount might depreciate, while Continental currency would prove sound. However, on 23 Dec., the Continental Congress voted against such a loan. When the Committee of Safety of the New York Congress learned of this action, it passed a resolution of 6 Jan. 1776 that provided for an issue of New York currency. , 4: 397, 1025–26; , 3: 432, 452.
3. The New York Provincial Congress did not single out the leaders of the raid for reprimand in the various letters and resolutions passed on this subject.
4. On 15 Nov. 1775 James Duane wrote McDougall concerning criticism of the latter’s decision not to join his regiment on active duty in Canada. Duane explained: “Upon an Occasion which I shall be at Liberty to mention when we meet, a member took notice in Congress of your not having Joind your Regiment when it was in actual Service and which he conceived to have been your indispensable Duty. I recalled that in August you told me you proposed to proceed with the last Detachment and that your Stay so long was necessary to forward the Business. I afterwards understood, but indistinctly, that you had been requested to remain in New York by the provincial Convention as it was thought your presence was useful. I mentioned these Circumstances adding that there could be no doubt but that you would be able to explain the Reason for not proceding with the Regiment to the Satisfaction of the most Scrupulous. After informing you of the fact advice must be superfluous as you must immediately see the propriety of asking General Schuyler at a convenient time to report to the Congress the motives of your remaining in Convention instead of taking the Field. I would not wish this to be done by way of Excuse but in the ordinary Course of Business when the Returns are forwarded.” NHi: McDougall; , 2: 350–51.
5. Colonel Lewis Morris accompanied James Wilson, a member of the Indian commission, to Fort Pitt after Congress’s adjournment on 2 Aug. On 14 Sept., Morris was named to the Indian commission in place of Benjamin Franklin, and he remained in western Pennsylvania to treat with the Indians. He returned to Congress about 9 Nov. , 2: 251; , 2: xix.
6. Congress authorized the building of the first naval vessels in October; “The Rules for the Regulation of the Navy” passed in Congress on 28 Nov. 1775. On 13 Dec., Congress authorized the construction of 13 frigates, of which eight actually went to sea and five were destroyed to prevent their capture. , 3: 293–94, 378–87, 425–26.